Fantasy football: Only in reality is Trent Richardson deal a game-changer

Sunday

Sep 22, 2013 at 6:00 AM

Josh Bousquet: Fantasy football

Every baseball season, the trading deadline garners a great deal of interest. Everything we do as fantasy owners is a little overblown, but on the diamond there are actual deals made every year that do shift some power and require some strategy.

Every football season, the only in-season trades made are back-of-the-roster moves whose lack of importance is shown by the fact that even fantasy owners pay little attention.

Until now.

On Wednesday, the Cleveland Browns did something that only the Cleveland Browns could do by shipping off their best player, running back Trent Richardson, to the Colts for a first-round draft pick. Indianapolis went from a dwindling team dealing with season-ending injuries to running back Vick Ballard, tight end Dwayne Allen and guard Donald Thomas, to an intriguing group with return-to-the-postseason potential.

One can't blame the Colts for the timing of this move. The Broncos have looked pretty solid this season, but the other undefeated AFC Teams — Patriots, Dolphins, Texans and Chiefs — have looked fallible, so there is reason for 1-1 Indy to think that one big move like this could pay off.

This is one of those situations, however, where that reality is different from the fantasy world, for I cannot see this move paying large dividends for any of us fake owners.

Richardson himself has been good, but not great, in his NFL career. As a rookie last season, he rushed for 950 yards and 11 touchdowns in 15 games. That was enough to make him a trendy high-upside fantasy pick this preseason in the hopes that he could make a sophomore leap. After two games, however, he has only 105 yards and has yet to find the end zone. Even while his total numbers are serviceable, a game-by-game look at his career shows he has rarely been a game-making player.

Yes, I understand that one has a more difficult time being a break-out star in a game when one plays for the Browns. At the same time, however, that put Richardson in a spot where if he shined, he would have been his team's main focus. When Brandon Weeden is your quarterback, it should be easier to stick out than with Andrew Luck behind center.

Although the Colts' offense still will begin with, and go through, Luck, one would think they would favor their ground game a little more with Richardson in the backfield than with Ballard or Ahmad Bradshaw. This balance makes Indy look like a better team on paper (and maybe that will even translate to the field), but a cap may just have been put on Luck's potential second-year improvement, too, if he throws the ball less.

There are some lower-end players, however, who could benefit from these teams' situations, and not just because Willis McGahee was salvaged from the scrap heap by Cleveland.

With the loss of Allen, Luck's former Stanford buddy, Coby Fleener, moves into the starting tight end position in Indianapolis. Fleener has yet to pan out in a way to justify his second-round draft pick status from last season (31 career receptions for 357 yards and three touchdowns), but he at least will be forced into more plays now, which at least should move him into bye-week replacement status.

Back in Cleveland, the Browns still are obligated by NFL rules to put 11 guys on the field on offense. This can now include wide receiver Josh Gordon, who is back this week after having been suspended for the first two games. That's good news for Weeden, who needs some sort of safety valve now that Richardson is gone.

Oh, but wait — Weeden has a sprained thumb, which means Brian Hoyer will get the start instead.

Cleveland can only hope that the first-round pick from Indy is a good one.

Monday-night promo

Two weeks ago, the Monday-night matchup between the Broncos and Raiders didn't look as interesting as it does now.

Sure, Oakland is only 1-1 with that one win coming over Jacksonville, so it barely counts. The Raiders have, however, rushed for 198.5 yards per game, which is good for second in the NFL.

The Broncos are first in the NFL in run defense, giving up only 40.5 yards per game on the ground. If there really is anything to this Terrelle Pryor experiment that the ghost of Al Davis has instituted in Oakland, the running QB will have to do something this week.

Denver's offensive power comes through the air, where Peyton Manning is averaging 376 yards per game. The Raiders' defense has been strong, though, coming in fifth against the pass at 180.5 yards per game and fourth overall at 261.

Even though one of the QBs the Raiders did face was Chad Henne, their number also includes holding Luck to 178 yards in the season-opener.

I can't really imagine that Manning doesn't come out of this looking as wonderful as ever — OK, maybe a little less wonderful than his opening seven-TD performance — but the chance he may not makes this intriguing.

Or, I'm just angling for a job at ESPN where I concoct promos to make the prime-time games sound competitive.